“A number of legal experts”: See Brad Jacobson, “Special Report: Scant Coverage of Obama Assassination Plot — Irresponsible Or Cautious?,” Media Bloodhound, August 29, 2008. It’s worth noting that before he was named a U.S. attorney, Troy Eid and convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff worked together at Greenberg Traurig, the top Washington lobbying firm where Abramoff ran his brief K Street empire and its illegal dealings, including the multimillion-dollar defrauding of American Indian tribes. Eid – who specialized in environmental and federal tribal laws – in fact handled two of the clients enmeshed in Abramoff’s scams. He was appointed U.S. attorney for Colorado in 2007 after having been vetted by Monica Goodling, the notorious Karl Rove-directed political operative in the Justice Department who was at the center of the scandal over the politicization of the department in its selections of U.S. attorneys. And he was appointed over the explicit wishes of the state’s Republican Senator, Wayne Allard, who wanted the currently serving U.S. attorney, William Leone, to remain in the job. See also Brad Jacobson, “Legal experts question US Attorney’s decision not to prosecute Obama ‘assassination plot’,”Raw Story, October 31, 2008.

“Militant anti-abortion ideologues”: See, e.g., the letter written by Army of God figure Chuck Spignola in 2004 to the editors of Salon: “The wicked civilian and the federal government appear to be co-conspirators in their coup to overthrow Christ and his people. For the most part the wicked are no longer terrified of the God-fearing man. Those blessed few that actually do terrify the wicked are vigorously denounced and punished by the government ‘of the people.’ I often weep over the persecution of the Christian terrorist in this country, for their oppression accomplishes three goals. First, it comforts and strengthens the wicked. Second, it discourages the would-be Christian terrorist from action. Third, it makes the Christian terrorist feel alone in his cause. … Most of the time when I leave the killing place my self-esteem diminishes, as I have failed where others have succeeded. Pleading, politics and pandering have done precious little to stop the holocaust against the innocent. But the Christian terrorist is not so inadequate. Dead abortionists don’t kill babies, and a fire-bombed death camp can no longer facilitate the holocaust against them. … As cream rises to the top, so the Christian terrorist rises above the huddled masses of churchgoers and the many voices that denounce their violent attempts to defend the innocent from their murderous assailants.”

“There was strong dissent”: Philip Klinkner, “Race and the Republican Party: The Rise of the Southern Strategy in the Republican National Committee, 1960-64,” Paper presented at the American Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, 1992, p. 24.